This is one of the times when converging the lineup towards few global products isn’t the best way to go. In North America, the full-size family car segment demands a sedan and a crossover, and works in a “parallel” market niche; they attract those who prefer to spent the amount asked for a midsize luxury car in something more functional. Such difference existed in Europe until the 1990s, but the fact that it has been fading out ever since is the biggest reason why Avalon and Avensis shouldn’t be the same. In nowadays, both generalist and luxury automakers are expanding their price ranges in order to increase their sales, and this means there are already some categories in which models from both are direct competitors. As you can imagine, Avensis’ is precisely one of them.
When it comes to Toyota, it’s hard to find something done wrong. The car comes as sedan and station wagon, both look sophisticated yet discreet, they use downsized powertrain, and they even have local production (Burnaston, in the UK). However, if it was already difficult to compete with Ford Mondeo, Opel Insignia and Volkswagen Passat, throwing in the entry-level trims of 3-Series, A4 and C-Class doesn’t exactly help. Toyota does have a lineup ready to take on the latter group, and it’s sold at the dealers that carry the Lexus logo. But since it’s a luxury division, and it still doesn’t have half of their image, it doesn’t have the flexibility to compete with these cheaper variations. This is why there are rumours that these will be the last Avensis before Toyota tries to work with a whole different car.
However, there will be a couple of years before any official information about that appears. What is known by now is that Avensis is better than ever. The new front fascia uses Toyota’s current design language in a way that is more elegant than Aygo and Yaris’, more conservative than Mirai’s, but still more casual than the global Corolla’s. The new headlights are connected by a thin upper grille which carries the company logo on the center, and by a chrome strip which ends in a delicate, V-shaped LED strip. The main air intake is much bigger and carries the license plate. At the back, both sedan and wagon received sleeker lights, a more elegant chrome bar connecting them, bigger room for the license plate, and retouched bumpers. And there are new wheels.
The cabin changed way more than what’s expected of a facelift like this. The entirely new dashboard uses the same horizontal-themed elements which have made other Toyotas look fancier and more serious, rather than futuristic. A closer look will notice two-tone coating, a huge touchscreen at the central stack and a smaller one at the instrument cluster, panoramic sunroof and plenty of space, specially at the station wagon. The engine range is supposed to be all new, but there isn’t much more official information about it yet. What Toyota is already proud to talk about is the new equipments you can ask for your Avensis: the Safety Sense package bundles most of the electronic systems that are omnipresent in full-size cars in nowadays. This car was officially released in the last Geneva Auto Show.